Jeannine Morrissey, the organizer of just such an event in Pittston, Pennsylvania, told WNEP to imagine amplifying traditional holiday mall settings by 10. That's why she helped launch "sensitive Santa" events alongside a host of volunteers at Pittston's First Baptist Church.
“They’re drawing with Santa, and Santa is moving around. It’s Santa on their terms,” Morrissey said.
On a larger scale, the Santa Cares program supplies "authentic, real-bearded Santas" to more than 900 locations in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, the Rockland/Westchester Journal News reported.
The partnership between Autism Speaks and Cherry Hill Programs offers amenities such as dimmed lighting, soft music and early hours to avoid holiday shoppers. And because families can reserve a time slot, lines can actually be skipped entirely, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, participating Santas are trained with techniques to work directly with special needs children.
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